What Is the Gospel of Matthew?

Sometimes described as the most Jewish of the four canonical gospels, the Gospel of Matthew is believed to have been written in the late first century CE by a Jewish follower of Jesus for a Jewish audience. One of the three Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, like Luke, is believed by most scholars to draw on both the Gospel of Mark and a hypothetical source called Q, in addition to containing distinctive material. Matthew engages extensively with Jewish Scripture, assumes knowledge of Jewish practice, and stresses that Jesus came not to abolish but to fulfill the law and prophets.